### Chapter 110: Negotiation Outside the Holy City (Part 2)
He didn’t voice his doubts immediately. After a brief moment of contemplation, he nodded and decided to take what they said at face value. “How can you ensure that?”
On the other end of the light, a flurry of whispers ensued.
After a while, someone responded, “During the meeting… the Williams Family will promptly secure a letter of absolution signed by more than half of the clergymen from the Council.”
That voice belonged to Archbishop Hoffman.
Now, a letter of absolution is essentially a clarifying statement issued inside the Church, declaring that the accused is innocent and should be retried by the Church court.
Generally, a letter of absolution issued directly by the Temple Church Council is equivalent to a declaration of not guilty. Beiyard understood this well enough, but he felt compelled to ask, “And then?”
For Grandpa St. George and the Williams Family, just a declaration of innocence within the Church wasn’t enough. The real question was, how were they going to restore their lost reputation and public trust?
“The letter of absolution will feature prominently on the front page of the new press released to the people of the Western Continent once the calamity is resolved.”
Archbishop Hoffman clearly knew what the Williams Family was thinking.
“Of course, there are two prerequisites.”
He quickly changed the subject: “First, after obtaining the letter of absolution, the Williams Family and their allies must assist us in executing the plan to reveal how Pope Angel orchestrated the slander and persecution of the finest clergyman in the Holy City, namely my son, Cardinal Nero. You’ll need to provide a written testimony before the Church court and the Owls at an appropriate time, based on our negotiations.”
“That’s no problem,” Beiyard replied quickly.
This was ultimately beneficial for both parties.
“As for the second…”
Hoffman continued, “The new press agency in the Holy City should be funded by St. George or the Williams Family.”
The moment these words escaped his lips, Beiyard’s eyebrows knitted together.
He pondered for a moment and stated, “I’ll need to confirm this point again later.”
“Not an issue.”
It appeared they were fine with that.
Thus, Beiyard’s statement came to a temporary halt, and the Temple Church began to articulate their demands.
Meanwhile, the cunning old-timers on the other side of the light had been quietly scheming. After much deliberation, they laid down numerous preconditions, supposedly designed to establish a foundation for mutual benefit, which should have been rather stringent—Beiyard had prepared himself mentally for this.
But nearly two hours had passed, and what the other side proposed were merely trivial demands, completely harmless and of little significance.
Beiyard listened carefully, agreed one by one, of course, as it was impossible to refuse. But including those beside him, everyone’s frowns deepened.
This wasn’t quite what they had anticipated.
“Oh, by the way.”
Finally, after all the demands had been stated, Hoffman’s voice grew slightly hoarse as he casually reminded everyone in the hall, like it was an afterthought.
“The invocation of the ‘Ancient God’s Eye’ to use the power of the Divine Reliquary ‘World’ to establish a ‘portal’ to break the blockade of the Holy City—this was the plan we agreed upon.”
Here we go—
Beiyard thought to himself, quietly listening.
“But to ensure everything goes without a hitch, the specifics of where and how to cast the teleportation node outside the Holy City, as well as when to activate it, should be on us to inform you, cough cough…”
He cleared his throat lightly, his tone nonchalant, “I hope that’s not an issue?”
Not an issue?
That’s a huge problem!
“Not happening.” Beiyard flatly refused.
The location of that teleportation node was precisely where they’d meet up on the day St. George and the allies would gather to enter the city. If the other party arranged the location and prepared ahead of time, only to notify them later, that was just too risky for them.
That was a firm no.
“Hold on, don’t reject it so quickly…”
Hoffman, of course, was well aware of this point and sounded as though he had come prepared: “Beiyard Williams, right?”
“If your old coot of a grandpa, St. George, were here today, he’d at least give this proposal serious consideration. You’re too young, rather uninformed, and don’t understand the stakes here… whew…”
From the other side of the light came faint sounds of heavy breathing.
The breaths soon halted, and Hoffman’s voice continued, “The Divine Reliquary ‘World’ isn’t in our hands, just like this impenetrable barrier, the Chain of Divine Lock isn’t ours either. Angel has hidden them deep, which is exactly why we need to summon the Ancient God’s Eye.”
“But this is actually a very dangerous maneuver. If things go awry, many lives could be lost. The more people are teleported into the city, the more potential casualties there could be. Since we lack the true relics, we’ll need bodies to substitute and bear the divine power.”
“And I can’t risk the lives of those gifted kids from the Faith Organization for this. They’ve already suffered too much due to the civil war and can’t afford any more losses. So we old-timers will have to take this on ourselves, but we’re aging, and our capabilities are indeed limited… You should consult your grandpa about this; just let him know that this is what the Temple Church insists on doing, and he’ll surely understand.”
“……”
Given that the other party said this, Beiyard fell silent.
“Well then…”
Hoffman paused briefly and then asked, “If there are no further questions, when do you anticipate entering the city?”
“We’ll decide tomorrow,” Beiyard replied.
Hoffman couldn’t help but rush him, “Hurry up, time waits for no one.”
“Understood.”
Beiyard raised an eyebrow; he thought he could detect a hint of urgency in the other’s tone.
“That’s all for today…”
“Wait a moment—”
Just as the conversation was about to close, suddenly Beiyard heard a shout from behind.
It was a woman’s voice; he didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.
“Falling Star Rain” Magipanny, leaning on her black staff, stood up sharply. “I have a question: Is Sword Saint Ryan in the Holy City?”
“……”
Her voice wasn’t loud, but it was powerful. There was a moment of silence on the other side of the light.
“Yes,” came Hoffman’s voice. “He’s just a bit injured, bedridden, and physically weak… so don’t worry, he shouldn’t pose a significant threat to us.”
Magipanny fell silent at that.
Soon, the brilliant golden light swirling in the eyes of the statue gradually faded away.
…………
After the meeting wrapped up, Falling Star Rain Magipanny and her many disciples were the first to exit the Holy Angel Fortress. The swordsman named Tarlasya walked beside her, hesitating several times before finally breaking the silence. “Teacher…”
He paused, noting that his teacher didn’t seem inclined to respond, so he continued, “Teacher, do you think this is normal?”
“What do you mean?”
Magipanny strode ahead swiftly, her staff tapping crisply against the ground.
“The Holy City turning into that state, the real reason behind it…”
Tarlasya looked at his teacher’s usually indifferent expression, cautiously probing, “I don’t think it’s as simple as it seems on the surface…”
